For the fourth year in a row, Legal Aid’s strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency has earned it a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. Read more →

The 2016 Generous Associates Campaign, an extraordinary effort run by law firm associates across our city to help make justice real for our client community, has started in high gear!  On June 8^th, we celebrated the launch of the Campaign at a reception hosted by Hogan Lovells’ Neal Katyal, the Generous Associates Campaign Honorary Chair.

Neal talked about the importance of supporting Legal Aid, singling out the case of Sergio Moreira and how he was unfairly being sued for $7,000 in back rent that he claimed he did not owe.  Mr. Moreira is paralyzed and lives off of disability benefits, so this amount was overwhelming.  Legal Aid helped Mr. Moreira prove that he had indeed fully paid his rent, and furthermore, that the landlord had not addressed the deplorable conditions Mr. Moreira had been living in. Read more →

On Thursday, April 28th, Legal Aid will host our annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner. Though we are now just under two weeks away from the night of the Dinner, there is still time to buy tickets – we hope you will join us for this celebration! This year we are presenting the Servant of Justice Award, Legal Aid’s highest honor, to Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund, and Thomas S. Williamson, Jr. of Covington & Burling LLP. Read more →

As the holidays approach, I want to make sure readers of this blog are aware of a convenient way to support Legal Aid when you shop online for family and friends. If you are purchasing gifts through Amazon, please consider enrolling in “Amazon Smile,” a program that allows you to choose a non-profit to receive a percentage of every eligible purchase you make on Amazon’s website.
Read more →

We are proud to announce that Legal Aid has once again received Charity Navigator’s highest rating – four out of four stars – for sound fiscal management, accountability, and transparency. Charity Navigator is America’s largest and most-utilized independent evaluator of charities, providing donors with essential information to give them greater confidence in the charitable choices they make.
Read more →

The Generous Associates Campaign has officially been extended to July 15th. Though the Campaign formally ends on July 15th, all donations received through the end of July will be counted towards the Campaign and will be reflected in the final total of the Top Fundraising Firms Competition.

That means that there is still time to help your firm place (or win!) its size category in the Top Fundraising Firms Competition, or to qualify for the CulinAerie Cooking Competition drawing, by donating and getting your colleagues to donate now! Read more →

Last night, Greg Craig, Honorary Chair of this year’s Generous Associates Campaign, hosted a reception for Co-Chairs and Coordinators at Skadden. Legal Aid Board members, staff, and other Skadden associates were also in attendance, making for a fun and energetic evening.

Executive Director Eric Angel opened the reception by thanking those who were able to make it and expressed his deep gratitude for all the Co-Chairs and Coordinators who are working hard this summer to make justice real through the Generous Associates Campaign. Read more →

Last night, Legal Aid’s Servant of Justice Awards Dinner marked several milestones and broke records. It was the 25th anniversary of the Dinner, and we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Project. Over 630 lawyers, judges, government officials, and friends of Legal Aid were in attendance—more than any year before. And the event raised a record-setting $1 million to support Legal Aid’s work on behalf of persons living in poverty in the District! Read more →

We are proud to announce that Legal Aid has received Charity Navigator’s highest rating -– four out of four stars -– for sound fiscal management, accountability, and transparency. Charity Navigator is America’s largest and most-utilized independent evaluator of charities, providing donors with essential information to give them greater confidence in the charitable choices they make.

Since 1932, Legal Aid’s mission has been to make justice real -– in individual and systemic ways –- for persons living in poverty in D.C. While Legal Aid’s primary mission is providing legal services to low-income D.C. residents, we recognize that it is equally essential that we demonstrate good governance, transparency, fiscal responsibility, and other best practices, to maintain the trust and confidence of our donors. Read more →

This was Legal Aid’s first chef competition, hosted by CulinAerie, the recreational cooking school co-founded by Susan Holt.  Susan generously donated her space, time, and resources to host the event, in which more than 70 people from nine area law firms competed.   The competition was judged by a panel of three celebrity judges: Bonnie Benwick, Food Editor of the Washington Post, Rock Harper, Season 3 Winner of Hell’s Kitchen, culinary instructor at D.C. Central Kitchen and chef and  collaborator of Fat Shorty’s in Arlington, and Garret Fleming, owner and chef of the upcoming local restaurant, Gristle.

Each firm fielded a team of cooks, and had one hour to come up with a dish that incorporated the secret ingredient: tomatoes.  This was one of the closest competitions, score-wise, according to the judges, who commended all teams on their efforts. Teams were scored on presentation, unique use of ingredients, and overall taste.  In the end, however, the DLA Piper team emerged as the winner with their “de-constructed BLT” dish. Read more →